Systems and methods for collecting episodes of media content series

ABSTRACT

Methods, systems and devices for organizing media content are provided. One method includes receiving a request, via a user interface presented to a user, to compile a requested plurality of episodes of a selected media content. The availability of the requested plurality of episodes are determined from at least two types of media content sources. The requested plurality of episodes are then compiled (e.g., recorded via a digital video recorder or located within a streaming service). A user interface is then presented to the user, including a series-order arrangement of the requested plurality of episodes.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/809,521, filed Jul. 27, 2015, and U.S. Provisional Patent App. No.62/097,241, filed Dec. 29, 2014, the contents of which are herebyincorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to the viewing of mediacontent. More particularly, the following discussion relates to systems,methods, and devices for collecting and viewing multiple episodes of aseries.

BACKGROUND

Recent years have seen a dramatic increase in the number and type ofmedia content sources that a user typically has access to, including,for example, streaming services, IP video-on-demand, network televisionprogramming, media content stored on digital video recorders, and a widerange of other sources.

Given the increased availability of media content, it has becomeincreasingly difficult for users to remain “caught up” on all episodesof any particular television series or other serial content. As aresult, at any given time a user might have access to some episodes of aseries, but not others, leading to a lack of continuity in viewing. Thishas led to an increased popularity in “binge watching” content—i.e.,viewing an entire season or indeed multiple seasons of a show frombeginning to end in a relatively short amount of time.

Such viewing behavior is best accomplished in a context in which alldesired episodes are presented sequentially in an easy-to-access form,such as within a DVD collection or during a televised “marathon” of aseries. However, DVD collections can be expensive, and series marathonsmay not occur within a timeframe that is desirable for the user. Giventhe wide range of available media content sources, it is generally anintractable task for a user to collect all episodes of a show inseries-order using a simple electronic-program-guide interface.

Accordingly, there is a need for improved systems, devices, andtechniques for compiling multiple episodes of a particular series forviewing by a user. These and other desirable features andcharacteristics will become apparent from the subsequent detaileddescription and the claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings and this background section.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Several examples of systems, devices, methods, and user interfaces aredescribed for arranging multiple episodes of a series for convenientviewing. A method in accordance with one embodiment includes receiving arequest, via a user interface presented to a user, to compile arequested plurality of episodes of a selected media content. Theavailability of the requested plurality of episodes is determined from aplurality of media content sources (e.g., two types of media contactsources). The requested plurality of episodes are then compiled (e.g.,recorded via a digital video recorder or located within a streamingservice). A user interface is then presented to the user, including aseries-order arrangement of the requested plurality of episodes.

A media device in accordance with one embodiment includes a processorand a memory configured to store computer-readable softwareinstructions. The software instructions, when executed by the processor,cause the processor to: produce a first user interface; receive arequest, via the first user interface, to compile a requested pluralityof episodes of a selected media content; determine the availability ofthe requested plurality of episodes from a plurality of media contentsources; compile the requested plurality of episodes; and present asecond user interface including a series-order arrangement of therequested plurality of episodes.

Alternate embodiments, aspects and other features are described in moredetail herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

Exemplary embodiments will hereinafter be described in conjunction withthe following drawing figures, wherein like numerals denote likeelements, and:

FIG. 1 is a conceptual block diagram illustrating a system for viewingmedia content in accordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual illustration of an episode-selection userinterface in accordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual illustration of a notification user interface inaccordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a method in accordance with oneembodiment.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a place-shifting system in whichthe present embodiments may be implemented.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Systems and methods are provided for collecting together one or morecomplete seasons of a TV series or other serial media content. A userrequests a particular range of episodes in a series (e.g., all availableepisodes), and the media device acts as a user agent-employing allavailable sources (e.g., streaming sources, network television, storedprograms, and the like) to locate the requested episodes and arrangethem in series-order. When all of the requested episodes have beenstored, identified, or otherwise located, the user is notified that“binge-watching” may commence. In that regard, the following detaileddescription of the invention is merely exemplary in nature and is notintended to limit the invention or the application and uses of theinvention. Furthermore, there is no intention to be bound by any theorypresented in the preceding background or the following detaileddescription.

Referring to FIG. 1, a media viewing system useful in describing thepresent invention generally includes one or more media content sources(or simply “content sources”) 102, 102, 103, etc. communicativelycoupled (e.g., over a network, via satellite, etc.) to a media device120 (with one or more associated displays 122). Device 120 maycorrespond to any combination of hardware and software configured toreceive and process media content from content sources 101-103,including, for example, a mobile telephone, a computer system (such asdesktop computer, laptop computer, tablet computer, or the like), a settop box, a television receiver, or a dedicated media player.

Media content sources 101-103 may correspond to any type of source nowknown or later developed and may be communicatively coupled to mediadevice via a variety of physical systems and protocols, including, forexample, media streaming (e.g., IPVOD), traditional network programmingsources, pay-per-view sources, satellite television, or the like.

In general, any particular media content source 101, 102, 103 may haveone or more episodes of a given series of episodes. In FIG. 1, theseepisodes are illustrated sequentially as individual blocks 111-117, withepisode 111 being the first episode in season 1, episode 112 being thesecond episode in a season 1, and so on, with seven episodes in totalbeing illustrated. As noted above, because the episodes 111-117 aredistributed over multiple media content sources 101-103, it can be adifficult for a user to methodically search each of the sources 101-103and download or stream the desired episodes 111-117 in series order.Furthermore, to make the task more difficult, the availability of aparticular episode at a given media content source will generally changeover time. That is, for example, an episode may air on a network onlyone or two times, and may not be generally available after that time.More particularly, referring to FIG. 1, episode 111 and episodes 112 areillustrated as being available at media content source 101; however, ata future time, episode 111 may be unavailable from any of media contentsources 101-103. Conversely, while not illustrated in FIG. 1, a givenepisode may be available from multiple media content sources 101-103.

In accordance with present embodiments, however, media device 120 allowsa user to specify a range of episodes to compile (e.g., a selectedseason, all seasons, etc.), and media device 120 identifies the locationof the requested episodes within media content sources 101-103 andpresents them in series order 130 as shown in such a way that the actualmedia sources 101-103 are invisible to the user. As this process willgenerally not be accomplished instantaneously, the user is preferablynotified when compilation is complete. In this way, the user can easilyarrange to “binge-watch” a particular series when desired.

FIG. 4 is a flow-chart depicting, in the general sense, a method inaccordance with one embodiment. Initially, at step 402, the media device120 receives a request to compile the desired episodes. This may beaccomplished via a suitable user interface produced by media device 120.In this regard, FIG. 2 depicts just one example of a user interface 200that includes a selection region 202 allowing the user to specify whichepisodes are to be compiled (e.g., All Seasons, Season 5, Season 4,Season 3, etc.). In FIG. 2, the interface object for “All Seasons” isselected (shaded region). The user may also provided with a userinterface element 204 that allows the user to specify a particular daterange, rather than one or more seasons. The user may also be able tospecify (via element 206) whether a notification (e.g., a pop-up alert,an e-mail, or the like) is to be presented to the user when compilationis complete. The user may further specify (via element 208) media sourcepreferences. For example, the user may prefer to record content locallyon a DVR rather than streaming the content over a network. Those skilledin the art will recognize that the example user interface of FIG. 2 isnot intended to be limiting, and that any suitable collection of userinterface elements, buttons, lists, and the like may be employed.

Referring again to FIG. 4, the system continues by determining theavailability of the requested episodes (step 404) and compiling them(step 406). Determining the availability of the show may be accomplishedin a variety of ways, depending upon the media content sources 101-103.For example, media device 120 may query all available EPGs, VOD contentsources, and the like and then determine (based, for example, onpreferences set by the user), which of those sources should be used foreach individual episode. As used herein, the phrase “compiling” (as instep 406) refers to making an episode available to the user. While insome cases this might include recording one or more episodes on a localDVR, it might also include identifying an address from which one or moreepisodes may be streamed (e.g., via IPVOD).

At step 408, the system determines whether compilation is complete. Ifso, a notification is provided to the user (step 412); if not, thesystem returns to step 404 after some predetermined time and continuesto check for the availability of the requested shows. This predeterminedtime may be pre-set (e.g., one day, two days, etc.), or may beconfigurable by the user. As will be appreciated, the time necessary tocompile a series of requested episodes may vary widely, from a few hoursto many weeks, depending upon the nature of the request.

Notification of the user (step 412) may take a variety of forms. FIG. 3illustrates just one example user interface 300, which includesnotification text 302, a list of compiled episodes 304, and a “watchnow” button that allows the user to begin “binge-watching” from thebeginning of list 304.

The above systems and methods may be implemented in the context of awide variety of entertainment devices and systems. FIG. 5 depicts one,non-limiting, example: a system 500 for placeshifting or otherwisetransferring data or content, such as a media program (or mediacontent), from a source electronic device 508 to a destinationelectronic device 504 over a network 506 for presentation to a user (orviewer) on the destination electronic device 504. For purposes ofexplanation, but without limitation, the source device 508 may bealternatively referred to herein as a media device or a placeshiftingdevice, and the destination electronic device 504 may be alternativelyreferred to herein as a playback device or a client device (or client).The placeshifting system 500 also includes a host server 502 (or host)that communicates or otherwise interacts with the devices 504, 508 overthe network 506 to facilitate establishment of a peer-to-peer connection580 over the network 506, which may be utilized for a placeshiftingsession, as described in greater detail below. It should be understoodthat FIG. 5 is a simplified representation of the placeshifting system500 for purposes of explanation is not intended to limit the subjectmatter described herein in any way.

In practice, the client device 504 may be any device, component, module,hardware and/or the like that is capable of communicating with theserver 502 over network 506. For example, depending on the embodiment,client device 504 may be realized as a conventional personal computer,portable computer, a tablet computer, workstation and/or other computingsystem, a mobile (or cellular) telephone, a smartphone, a personaldigital assistant, a video game player, and/or any other device capableof receiving media programs via the network 506 and presenting audioand/or visual content. In this regard, the client device 504 includes adisplay device, such as a monitor, screen, or another conventionalelectronic display, capable of graphically presenting visual content,data and/or information that is generated or otherwise provided by anapplication 505, 507 executing on the client 504. The client device 504may further include a user input device, such as a keyboard, a mouse, atouchscreen, or the like, capable of receiving input data and/or otherinformation from the user of the client device 504. The client device504 also includes a processing system and a data storage element (ormemory) that is coupled to or otherwise accessed by the processingsystem and stores programming instructions that, when read and executed,cause the processing system of the client device 504 to generate one ormore applications 505, 507, 509 executing thereon and perform varioustasks, functions, processes and/or operations and support the subjectmatter described herein. The processing system may be realized as anysort of processor, microprocessor, microcontroller, digital signalprocessor, or any other suitable processing device, or any suitablecombination thereof.

The client 504 may reside at a geographic location that is remote orotherwise physically distinct from the geographic location of the mediadevice 508. In this regard, the media device 508 may have an essentiallyfixed or permanent geographic location, whereas the geographic locationof the client 504 may be transient or otherwise variable with respect tothe location of the media device 508. For example, the media device 508may be realized as a set-top box or a similar device that resides at auser's home for providing media content to the user's television orother home display device 540, while the client 504 is realized as aportable electronic device, such as a mobile phone or other mobilecomputing device, that moves about with the user.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, client device 504 executes aconventional browser or other client application 505 that is compatiblewith standard Internet, world wide web (WWW), transmission controlprotocol, and/or Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), and/or other formats. Suchbrowsers are typically capable of displaying active or other documentsformatted in accordance with published protocols and/or computerlanguages (e.g., hypertext markup language (HTML), extensible markuplanguage (XML), cascading style sheets (CSS), Javascript, and/or thelike). Many browsers are also capable of executing “plugin”applications, applets or the like. Such plugins may be formatted inaccordance with ActiveX, JAVA, Javascript and/or any number of otherformats. A number of commonly used web browsers are available for anumber of different computing platforms, and the subject matterdescribed herein is not limited to any particular browser application.In the illustrated embodiment, client 504 further includes a mediaplayer application 507. The media player 507 may be a standalone mediaplayer, or the media player 507 may be implemented as a plugin or otherapplet that runs within the client application 505 as desired. In someembodiments, media player 507 is initially obtained from a networkedhost, such as server 502. The media player 507 may be retrieved on anas-needed basis in some embodiments, or may be stored at client 504 forsubsequent execution.

With continued reference to FIG. 5, in exemplary embodiments, mediadevice 508 is any form of device, module, component, hardware and/or thelike capable of receiving and processing media content from one or morecontent sources. For example, in some embodiments, media device 508 is aset-top box (STB) or similar system that is able to receive televisionprogramming and/or to record certain programs that can be viewed on adisplay device 540, such as a television, monitor, liquid crystaldisplay (LCD), light emitting diode (LED) display, plasma display, orthe like. Exemplary embodiments of media device 508 will thereforeinclude or otherwise be coupled to a receiver interface 542 forreceiving satellite, cable and/or broadcast programming signals frombroadcast sources 512, as well as a data storage medium 510 (e.g., ahard disk, flash memory, or another suitable non-volatile data storageelement) to support a digital video recorder (DVR) feature and/orfunctionality, a display interface 544 for providing imagery to thedisplay device 540, and a control module 546 that directs the operationsof the media device 508 as appropriate. For convenience, but withoutlimitation, the data storage medium 510 is alternatively referred toherein as a DVR. Media device 508 may also include one or moreinterfaces 548 to the network 506 and/or an input/output interface 550to a remote control or other device for providing user inputs to themedia device 508, as appropriate. For example, the network interface(s)548 of the media device 508 may include an interface or port for a wiredcommunications layer (e.g., an Ethernet port or adapter), an interfacefor a wireless communications layer (e.g., an IEEE 802.11-compatibletransceiver), and/or the like.

The components in media device 508 may be provided within a commonchassis or housing as depicted in FIG. 5, although equivalentembodiments may implement media device 508 with any number ofinter-connected but discrete components or systems. For example, in someembodiments, the media device 508 may be realized as a combination of aSTB and a placeshifting device, wherein some features of the mediadevice 508 (e.g., the DVR 510, the receiver 542, the display interface544, and/or I/Os 550) are implemented by the STB and other features ofthe media device 508 (e.g., the network interface 548) are implementedby the placeshifting device, wherein the placeshifting device works inconjunction with the STB to shift the viewing experience from a hometelevision (e.g., display device 540) to a viewing display on the clientdevice 504 that is accessed via the network 506. Examples ofplaceshifting devices that may be used in some embodiments of mediadevice 508 could include any of the various SLINGBOX products availablefrom Sling Media of Foster City, Calif., although other products orservers could be used in other embodiments. Many different types ofplaceshifting devices are generally capable of receiving media contentfrom an external source, such as any sort of DVR or STB, cable orsatellite programming source, DVD player, and/or the like. In otherembodiments, placeshifting features are incorporated within the samedevice that provides content-receiving or other capabilities. Mediadevice 508 may be a hybrid DVR and/or receiver, for example, that alsoprovides transcoding and placeshifting features. It should beappreciated that FIG. 5 depicts merely one exemplary embodiment of amedia device 508, and in practice, the media device 508 may be logicallyand physically implemented in any manner to suit the needs of aparticular embodiment.

In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5, media device 508 iscapable of receiving digital broadcast satellite (DBS) signalstransmitted from a broadcast source 512, such as a satellite, using anantenna 552 that provides received signals to the receiver 542.Equivalent embodiments, however, could receive programming at receiver542 from any sort of cable connection, broadcast source, removablemedia, network service, external device and/or the like. In someembodiments, the media device 508 may also include an access cardinterface or card reader 554 adapted to receive an access card 560 (orviewing card) configured to ensure that the viewer is authorized to viewmedia content provided to the primary display device 540. In thisregard, the access card 560 includes unique identification informationassociated with a particular subscriber to the broadcast content source512 or otherwise includes subscription information that facilitatesreceiving and/or decoding media content provided by the broadcastcontent source 512.

The DVR 510 feature stores recorded programming (e.g., recordedbroadcast programming received via receiver 542) on a hard disk drive,memory, a networked server, or other storage medium as appropriate inresponse to user/viewer programming instructions, wherein the recordedprogramming may be subsequently viewed via the media device 508, eitheron display device 540 or client device 504 via network 506. Contentstored in DVR 510 may be any sort of file-based programming or othercontent that is accessible to media device 508. In various embodiments,in addition to storing broadcast programming, the DVR 510 may also storeprogramming received from other sources not illustrated in FIG. 5, suchas, for example, programming downloaded from an on-demand programmingsource or an online programming source. Additionally, content in DVR 510may be stored in any sort of compressed or uncompressed format, asdesired, and may be encoded or transcoded as desired for effectivereceipt, storage, retrieval and playing.

The control module 546 is any sort of hardware, circuitry, processinglogic and/or other components capable of directing the operations ofmedia device 508. In various embodiments, control module 546 includessoftware or firmware logic and/or other programming instructionsresiding in memory and executing on any sort of processing system, suchas any sort of processor, microprocessor, microcontroller, digitalsignal processor or the like. The instructions, when read and executed,cause the control module 546 to perform various tasks, functions,processes and/or operations and otherwise support the subject matterdescribed herein. In various embodiments, the control module 546 isbased upon a “system on a chip” (SoC) implementation that incorporates ahybrid microcontroller with memory, input/output and other features toperform the various signal processing and other actions of media device508. Other embodiments may implement control module 546 and/or the otherfeatures of media device 508 with any number of discrete and/orintegrated processing components (e.g., any sort of microprocessor ormicrocontroller), memories, input/output features and/or other featuresas desired. The control module 546 communicates with the networkinterface 548 to establish a peer-to-peer connection 580 to the clientdevice 504 over the network 506 and support streaming of media programs(e.g., from the DVR 510 or the receiver 542) to the client device 504over the network 506 via the peer-to-peer connection 580, as describedin greater detail below.

In the embodiment of FIG. 5, the network 506 is any communicationsnetwork (or a combination of communications networks) capable oftransmitting data between devices within the system 500. In variousembodiments, network 506 includes any number of public or private dataconnections, links or networks supporting any number of communicationsprotocols. Network 506 may include the Internet, for example, or anyother network. Such networks may be based upon TCP/IP or otherconventional protocols, although other embodiments may use any type ofalternate or successor protocols, as desired. In various embodiments,network 506 may also incorporate a wireless and/or wired telephonenetwork, such as a cellular communications network for communicatingwith mobile phones, personal digital assistants, and/or the like.Various embodiments of network 506 may also incorporate any sort ofwireless or wired local area networks (LANs), wide area networks (WAN),or the like.

In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 5, the server 502 may be realizedas one or more server computers or other device(s) coupled to thenetwork 506 and capable of interacting with the devices 504, 508 tofacilitate communications between the client device 504 and the mediadevice 508 associated with the user or operator of the client 504. Theserver 502 may be implemented with a server computer system or dataprocessing system that is based upon any processor, architecture and/oroperating system, and will typically be implemented using a processingsystem 530, memory 532, and input/output features 534. Variousembodiments may be implemented using dedicated or shared hardwareservers; other implementations may make use of virtual server featuresas part of a “cloud computing” service, such as any of the cloudcomputing services provided by any number of providers.

While FIG. 5 illustrates a single server 502, many practical embodimentsof the system 500 may provide a cluster or other collection of multiplehost servers 502 to support any desired number of simultaneouscommunications with multiple clients 504 and/or multiple media devices508. This cluster may also incorporate appropriate routing, loadbalancing, access and security mechanisms and or any number of otherfeatures. In various embodiments, each server 502 is an actual orvirtual computer system executing an operating system 536 in conjunctionwith the processing system 530, memory 532 and/or I/O features 534 toprovide a computing core that is capable of executing a portalapplication 538, as well as any number of daemons, processes,applications or other modules as desired. For example, a portalapplication 538 could execute as a daemon on the server 502, withconnections to separate clients 504 being managed as separate processesor instances that communicate with portal application 538 using featuresprovided by operating system 536. In one or more embodiments, the memory532 stores programming instructions that, when read and executed, causethe processing system 530 to create, generate, or otherwise facilitatethe portal application 538 and perform various tasks, functions,processes and/or operations described herein. In this regard, the memory532 represents any non-transitory short or long term data storageelement or other computer-readable media capable of storing programminginstructions for execution by or on the processing system 530.

The user of the client 504 is able to connect to the portal application538 supported by host 502 via the network 506, for example, by directingthe client application 505 to a URL or other network address associatedwith host 502 and/or portal application 538. In exemplary embodiments,after the user is successfully authenticated by the portal application538, the host 502 and/or portal application 538 establishes a connection570 over the network 506 to the media device 508 that is associated withthe user. Thereafter, the host 502 and/or the portal application 538utilizes the connection 570 to obtain, from the media device 508 via thenetwork 506, information about programming stored at the media device508 and available for placeshifting to the client device 504, such as,for example, a listing of the media programs stored on DVR 510. Itshould be noted that although FIG. 5 depicts the network connection 570as being between the host 502 and the media device 508, in practice, theplaceshifting system 700 may include one or more intermediary components(e.g., one or more message servers) configured to establish, facilitate,or otherwise support the connection 570.

Server 102 is coupled to an electronic program guide 122, which may berealized as a server, a database, or another device operating on thenetwork 106 that maintains information pertaining to current and/orfuture broadcasts (or airings) of media programs that are available tobe received from broadcast source 112 (e.g., by the media device 108 viareceiver 142 and/or antenna 152). The server 102 and/or the portalapplication 138 may obtain information pertaining to current and/orfuture broadcasts (or airings) of media programs from the electronicprogram guide 122 and generate or otherwise provide a program guidegraphical user interface (GUI) display on the client device 104 (e.g.,within client application 105) that indicates media programs that are orwill be available for streaming from the media device 108. The user ofthe client device 104 may manipulate or otherwise utilize the graphicaluser interface (or the graphical user interface elements containedtherein) to select or otherwise identify media programs for streaming tothe client device 104 and/or recording to the DVR 110. The user maypause or otherwise stop presentation of the streamed media program andmanipulate or otherwise operate the client application 105 to transmitor otherwise provide 412, via the network 106, a request for content toa third-party content source 126 (e.g., a third-party website). Thethird-party content source 126 responds to the request by transmittingor otherwise providing content to the client device 104 via the network106.

In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 1, the placeshifting system 100also includes a media program database 124 that includes verified orvalidated metadata and/or other descriptive information for a vast arrayof media programs. For example, the media program database 124 maycontain metadata and/or other descriptive information pertaining tosubstantially all of the media programs that may be available from oneor more content sources within placeshifting system 100 (e.g.,information pertaining to any media programs that have previously beenaired by a broadcast source 112, along information pertaining to anymovie that has been presented in theaters, made available on-demand, orreleased for individual use (e.g., on digital video disc (DVD) or thelike)). In exemplary embodiments, for each media program having a record(or entry) in the media program database 124, the media program database124 maintains a media data object that includes one or more fields ofmetadata associated with that media program along with one or morefields of program identifiers that may be used to identify that mediaprogram record. In this regard, the program guide 122 and the mediaprogram database 124 may utilize the same program identifiers touniquely identify each media program.

Many other modifications and enhancements could be provided in a widearray of alternate but equivalent embodiments. The term “exemplary” isused herein to represent one example, instance or illustration that mayhave any number of alternates. Any implementation described herein asexemplary is not necessarily to be construed as preferred oradvantageous over other implementations. While several exemplaryembodiments have been presented in the foregoing detailed description,it should be appreciated that a vast number of alternate but equivalentvariations exist, and the examples presented herein are not intended tolimit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the invention in anyway. To the contrary, various changes may be made in the function andarrangement of elements described without departing from the scope ofthe claims and their legal equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of organizing media content, comprising:receiving a request, via a first user interface presented to a user, tocompile a requested plurality of episodes of a selected media content;determining the availability of the requested plurality of episodes fromat least two types of media content sources; compiling the requestedplurality of episodes; and presenting a second user interface includinga series-order arrangement of the requested plurality of episodes. 2.The method of claim 1, wherein the types of media content are selectedfrom the group consisting of media streaming, network programmingsources, pay-per-view sources, and satellite sources.
 3. The method ofclaim 1, further including providing a notification that the requestedplurality of episodes have been compiled.
 4. The method of claim 3,wherein the notification is a pop-up alert displayed on the first userinterface.
 5. The method of claim 3, wherein the notification is ane-mail addressed to the user.
 6. The method of claim 1, whereincompiling the requested plurality of episodes includes at least one ofrecording an episode on a digital video recorder and determining thelocation of an episode within a video streaming service.
 7. The methodof claim 1, further including place-shifting the requested plurality ofepisodes to a mobile device.
 8. A media device comprising: a processor;a memory configured to store computer-readable software instructionswhich, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to: produce afirst user interface; receive a request, via the first user interface,to compile a requested plurality of episodes of a selected mediacontent; determine the availability of the requested plurality ofepisodes from at least two types of media content sources; compile therequested plurality of episodes; and present a second user interfaceincluding a series-order arrangement of the requested plurality ofepisodes.
 9. The media device of claim 8, wherein the types of mediacontent are selected from the group consisting of media streaming,network programming sources, pay-per-view sources, and satellitesources.
 10. The media device of claim 8, wherein the processor isfurther configured to provide a notification that the requestedplurality of episodes have been compiled.
 11. The media device of claim8, further including providing a notification that the requestedplurality of episodes have been compiled.
 12. The media device of claim8, wherein the notification is a pop-up alert or an e-mail message. 13.The media device of claim 8, wherein compiling the requested pluralityof episodes includes at least one of recording an episode on a digitalvideo recorder and determining the location of an episode within a videostreaming service.
 14. A media content organization system comprising: aplurality of media sources; a media device communicatively coupled tothe plurality of media sources, the media device configured to produce afirst user interface; receive a request, via the first user interface,to compile a requested plurality of episodes of a selected mediacontent; determine the availability of the requested plurality ofepisodes from at least two types of media content sources; compile therequested plurality of episodes; and present a second user interfaceincluding a series-order arrangement of the requested plurality ofepisodes.
 15. The system of claim 14, wherein the media device is aplaceshifting device.
 16. The system of claim 14, wherein the mediadevice is further configured to provide a notification that therequested plurality of episodes have been compiled.
 17. The system ofclaim 16, wherein the notification is a pop-up alert or an e-mailmessage.
 18. The system of claim 16, wherein the notification is analert provided within a social media site.
 19. The system of claim 14,wherein the media device compiles the requested plurality of episodes byrecording an episode on a digital video recorder or determining thelocation of an episode within a video streaming service.
 20. The systemof claim 14, wherein the types of media content are selected from thegroup consisting of media streaming, network programming sources,pay-per-view sources, and satellite sources.